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Santa Maria di Leuca lies on the furthermost point of the Apulian heel and it is near both the Jonio and the Inside of the Minore Basilica Adriatic Sea: here there is an ample repertoire of all the past evidences of the people who settled in this area. In fact, Leuca was a place of meeting and passage for those who used to travel from the Western Mediterranean to the Eastern one. Due to the recovery of the rests of a settlement of the Bronze Age and to some Messapian inscriptions found inside some caves along the beautiful coast, there are some proofs of human villages dating back to the prehistoric age. Some people think that homo sapiens lived in the famous Cave of the Devil. According to legendary hypothesis Leuca was founded by Idomeneus while for some historians by the Phoenicians. The peoples who conquered Leuca are the Goths, the Longobards, the Greek and the Saracens. In 1500 Gonzaga, feudatory of a near village, made build the Tower of the Dead Men to protect the territory from the raids of the pirates wanderingThe Madonna of Leuca and the Lighthouse unmolested along the coasts. In 1527, Phillip II made build a second tower, but all the efforts to strengthen the defence of the territory were useless, since the wicked looters were fast in their raids. So the people were forced to move towards the hinterland, leaving the coast nearly desert. Only from 1873 , Leuca was repopulated thanks to the construction of new residences, stately villas, and to the restoration of the pre-existing houses.

 

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